The Ending We Were Deprived Peeta
by CookieMonsterWillRuleTheWorld
Summary: Quick re-write of what I thought the ending could have been like.
1. Chapter 1

**The Ending We Were Deprived.**

My head rested in my hands as I sat limply on the train back to district twelve.

Was all that happened for the better? I guess.

Did it feel like it? No.

Maybe for other people it would be better, but I had lost so many people in this crusade of righteousness. And my family, already torn apart by the Capital by indirectly causing the death of my father, and then they then proceeded to cause me to lose my mother, Gale, Prim, and almost Peeta.

If it wasn't for Peeta and Haymitch holding tightly on to the fine line of fishing wire attached to my helium filled sanity, I could say with certainty that I would not be here right now.

Though my family had been wrenched apart and my actions had caused me pain, horror and torture, perhaps other families of the future can be saved from the all-consuming utter destruction I had experienced.

"We're home," murmured Haymitch and I felt the carriage slow down as it pulled in to let us off.

I agreed with Haymitch. Even after all that had happened here, everything that had been caused, everything that had been destroyed, I still considered this place my home.

I lifted my body gingerly and kept my head down as I shuffled out of the carriage and onto the platform.

When I raised my head to take in my surroundings, one thing filled my vision and I couldn't breathe.

I pinched myself numbly; sure I wasn't seeing things properly.

A squeak escaped my throat and the golden head of hair rose to look at me. Worn, but alive.

I rushed forward, gasping for breath like a fish out of water, my lungs screaming in protest.

"PRIM! PRIM!" I scream out ecstatically, slamming into her outstretched arms and clinging onto her for dear life.

"Shh, shh, Katniss, it's okay, we're okay, it's gonna be alright," she soothed, running her hand calmingly over my hair.

"H-h-how?" I managed to gasp out as I convulsed with the effort of exerting so many tears and displaying so much emotion.

"I escaped. When the bomb went off, I had just moved over to an area where I was sheltered. I was badly burnt and injured, but I managed to escape to some near-by bush land and treated myself with some of mother's herb remedies.

I'd been living there for a while, almost fully recovered. Then, a few days ago, Gale was hunting in the bush area I happened to be in and he found me and brought me back here." I could hear the smile in her voice as she recounted the tale.

For the first time, I realised that there was another presence with us, and I raised my head to see Gale, my best friend and confident standing there, a look of satisfaction on his face.

He opened his arms and I withdrew from Prim and embraced Gale, an embrace with no resistance, like we had been able to before I thought his bomb had killed Prim, like before this whole event had happened and we were just a boy and a girl hunting together in a forest.

He hugged me tightly and stepped back to reveal a third person I had failed to notice.

"Peeta," I whispered, smiling through the tears cascading down my face, and melted into his arms. I felt his arms encircle me and I felt a huge sense of relief rush over me as I realised how lucky I was, not to have him permanently damaged by the Capital.

Right then, even though both Gale and Peeta were here, and now that Prim was alive, neither of them had anything against them, I knew who my choice was.

…

**Review for the next chapter! **

**-The Cookie Monster!**


	2. Chapter 2

The four of us ended up all moving into my house in the Victor's village. I think we were all too marred to bear to be alone; or maybe I was too scarred and the others didn't want to hurt my pride and put up the façade that made me think they were too.

Gale began to take Prim out to teach her about the forest. Not hunting, because it was against her nature, but he taught her where to get all the different types of herbs from and how you could tell the time of day or what kind of animals had passed, how to tie knots and carve things out of wood.

At first I was extremely opposed to the latter option for fear of Prim getting hurt, but she used her Bambi eyes on me and, as she kept reminding me, she was 15 and no longer a child.

It was just hard for me, thinking I had lost her last time had almost torn me apart, and the thought of anything happening to her sent me into a frenzy of worry.

Gale. He was my best friend. I had missed him so much and I had finally gotten him back. Sometimes while Prim and Peeta were painting or cooking, Gale and I would go out to the hunting grounds and just sit and talk. Talking about anything and everything.

Talk about the rebellion, the Hunger Games, before the Hunger Games, the Future, and something I had noticed to my growing amusement, Gale's growing infatuation with Prim.

Gale was strong and he would protect her, and I couldn't think of a better outcome for my family, something good rising from the ashes of death and destruction. Me ending up with Peeta, my constant companion who had been there for me through everything.  
From the little boy who had braved a beating to give me some bread, to the man today who held me through my nightmares and did everything within his power to make me happy.  
My sister turning up alive, not dead; being able to un-connect Gale to Prim's death;  
Gale and Prim ending up together, Haymitch living next door, all my family together, safe and content.

When Gale and I got back that afternoon, I ran straight into Peeta's strong arms as he lifted me up into the air, spinning around laughing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Prim go up to Gale and shyly give him a hug. My family was safe, I was content and I knew from here on out, whatever happened, as long as we were together nothing else mattered.

We had come out of the war zone with cuts and bruises and scars, but if life is all an easy ride, what do you gain? Without experiencing all the ups and downs of life, have you really lived? It is these experiences that make us who we are and our lives worth fighting for.

…

**Please let me know what you think in a review, muchly appreciated **

**-The Cookie Monster.**


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